Eyeshine
Eyeshine was formed in 2004 by front man Johnny Yong Bosch and Maurice Salmin. Eyeshine first found success in 2006 with a unique blend of pop punk and post grunge called Edge Rock. The band gained a modest audience with its debut EP, "How About That" and their first full length album, "Red Stripes White Lights" but it was their sophomore effort, "My Paper Kingdom" that officially opened the flood gates in 2009. MPK featured their award winning song, "Alone," whose honest and simple lyrics made a connection to a steadily growing fan base. The band has continued to self produced 6 more albums: "Tone of Echoes" (features the Elfenworks Foundation sponsored song "Hope Is So Far Away"), "Afterglow" (acoustic album), "Sonosis" (instrumental album), "Sansvox" (karaoke album), "XMAS" (Christmas album), and their latest album "Revolution Airwaves". The band has been touring across the nation since 2006 and even making their way out of the country to New Zealand in early 2011. Eyeshine also is set to tour Australia, New Zealand, and Canada in late 2012. 'History' Formation and How About That (2004-2007) : Main article: How About That (Eyeshine EP) The founding of Eyeshine began in a local church band both Johnny Yong Bosch and Maurice Salmin were part of. They decided to try writing and performing their own music and went through many incarnations before deciding on the name Eyeshine. Bosch got the name from an episode of The Crocodile Hunter. Steve Irwin was rescuing crocodiles in the darkness and kept repeating that he could spot them by their 'eyeshine' from his lantern. Bassist Alex Orantes later joined the band and they began work on their first record. After various obstacles getting their first EP How About That recorded, it finally saw release in 2006. A music video was produced for "Sunday Flower", which was originially a hidden track at the end of "Selah" on the physical version. Red Stripes White Lights (2007-2009) : Main article: Red Stripes White Lights (Eyeshine album) Following the success of How About That, Eyeshine added lead guitarist Ji Ho "Daniel" Lee to the group in their first full-length album, Red Stripes White Lights. ''"Here Comes The End Again" acted as the lead single with music video in tow. My Paper Kingdom (2009-2010) : Main article: My Paper Kingdom (Eyeshine album) Lee announced in 2009 that he was leaving the band for family reasons, leaving a vacancy during the recording process for ''My Paper Kingdom. ''Despite this, Eyeshine moved ahead and released "Fighting" as their latest single and music video. Orantes would later follow as the next departure, leaving only Bosch and Salmin to finish recording the album. Lead guitarist Eddie Colmenares and bassist Tori Dozier were brought on board during touring. Tone of Echoes and other projects (2010-2011) : Main article: Tone of Echoes (Eyeshine album) Dozier left the group in 2010 and Crystal Mesina joined Eyeshine to fill the void. They released "Hope Is So Far Away" and "Our Whole Lives Tonight" as the two lead-off singles and music videos for the album. ''Tone of Echoes released at the end of 2010 and they continued touring across the nation and overseas to New Zealand. Colmenares would soon after announce his departure from the group to pursue other musical interests. Both Eyeshine and former lead guitarist Ji Ho Lee would agree to reunite in 2011. "Stratosphere" was chosen as the next single, with the transition of lead guitarists noted in the music video. Eyeshine kept busy throughout 2011 working on new albums and projects. They performed and recorded "Love Psalm" in the Playstation Vita game "Silent Hill: Book of Memories," featuring Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Akira Yamaoka.The anticipated acoustic album "Afterglow" ''made its release, including four new songs and a collection of acoustic versions of previous material. They next tackled ''"Sonosis", an instrumental album that was influenced by bands such as Explosions in the Sky. The group finished 2011 strong with releases of "Sansvox" (karaoke album) and "XMAS" (Christmas album). Revolution Airwaves (2011-present) : Main article: Revolution Airwaves (Eyeshine album) Lee would depart from Eyeshine once again for family reasons. Masataka "Polo" Yazaki was initially brought in to sub for Lee for certain tour dates but soon became a permanent member of the band. Eyeshine won the worldwide Ford sponsored competition "Gimme The Gig II" in May 2012. They recorded a single and filmed a music video with the Legendary Don Was (President of Blue Note Records and 7 time Grammy Award winning Producer - Rolling Stones, Elton John, John Mayer, etc.) and Krish Sharma (Producer/Engineer - The Rolling Stones, Counting Crows, Hilary Duff, Jesse McCartney, etc.) out of the "Ford Focus Studio." It is a Mobile Studio that was built into a Ford Focus by "Mad" Mike Martin (Pimp My Ride). KTLA (West Coast News Stations affiliated with The CW TV Network), filmed and aired the one-hour special on west coast television. Revolution Airwaves ''released on July 1, 2012. Prior to the album's launch, bassist Crystal Mesina left Eyeshine to accept a paid contract with Forever The Day due to her family situation. They are working on their second acoustic album while seeking a replacement for Mesina. 'Band members' Current line-up *Johnny Yong Bosch - lead vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter (2004 - present) *Maurice Salmin - drums, piano, back vocals (2004 - present) *Masataka "Polo" Yazaki - lead guitar, back vocals (2012 - present) *Ginny - bass, vocals (2013) Former members *Crystal Mesina - bass, back vocals (2010-2012) *Ji Ho "Daniel" Lee - lead guitar, back vocals (2007-2009, 2011 - 2012) *Eddie Colmenares - lead guitar, back vocals (2009-2011) *Tori Dozier - bass, back vocals (2009-2010) *Alex Orantes - bass, back vocals (2006-2009) *Chris Steinborn - bass *Sean Cargo - lead guitar 'Discography' : see Eyeshine/discography Studio albums *2008: ''Red Stripes White Lights *2009: My Paper Kingdom *2010: Tone of Echoes *2011: Sonosis *2012: Revolution Airwaves EPs *2006: How About That Other albums *2011'': Afterglow'' *2011'': Xmas'' *2011'': Sansvox'' 'Awards and recognitions' *Won the worldwide Ford Sponsored Gimme The Gig II competition. (2012 - see above) *Performed live on the KTLA Morning show (affiliate of the CW Television Network) on July 20th, 2012 *Featured their album "Revolution Airwaves" in the Warped Tour Issue of A.P. (Alternative Press) Magazine. (2012) *Performed and recorded "Love Psalm" in the Playstation Vita game "Silent Hill: Book of Memories." Which featured Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Akira Yamaoka. (2011) *Front man Johnny Yong Bosch was featured in Alternative Revolt Magazine. (2011) *Featured in the 2nd episode of international Korean TV show "Ba Ram Eh Shil Ryu" (Gone With The Wind) where they performed alongside the Korean pop-star Yim Jae Beom. *Unsigned Contest Winner for AMP Magazine in 2011, which featured the band in issue #109 of Amp Magazine. (2011) *Finalists in KROQ's Shot To Rock Competition. (Top 10 - 2011) *Gimme the Gig Finalist (Top 7) Live on KTLA at the Whiskey A Go Go. (2010) *"Alone" (Album "My Paper Kingdom") is awarded as one of Top 15 Most Played Indie Artist's songs by the IAIRA. (2010) *Star 98.7 Rockstar Finalist (Top 10 - 2010) *Star 98.7 Rockstar Finalist (Top 5 - 2009) *"Alone" (Album "My Paper Kingdom") is awarded the Elfenworks Social Justice Award (2009) *Campus Music Fest Los Angeles Finalist (Top 3 - 2009) 'External links' *Eyeshine on Facebook *Eyeshine on Twitter *Eyeshine on YouTube *Eyeshine on Reverbnation *Eyeshine on Myspace Category:Musical groups established in 2004 Category:American indie rock groups